CTA Begins Payments For Ventra After Improved Performance

CHICAGO (CBS) — CBS 2 has learned the CTA has quietly paid the makers of its Ventra card $2.4 million. That’s just for the first three months.

Dorothy Tucker takes a look at why they finally got paid, and why customers are saying they don’t deserve a penny.

Stop by at a CTA station, and you can easily find customers still having problems with their Ventra cards.

But the problems are rare, according to CTA officials. The agency points to a performance report it conducted on Ventra and concludes 99 percent of Ventra equipment is working. 99 percent of the taps are processed in 2.5 seconds or less.

“When you go to touch it works a lot faster now, but that’s the only improvement I noticed,” said one CTA customer.

CTA notes another improvement in service wait times, less than five minutes. CTA had demanded the operators of Ventra, Cubic, make the improvements. Since it did, the agency finally paid the company for the last quarter.

“If they’re double charging or mischarging the customers then they should not be paid,” said Glenn Kahn.

Kahn is convinced he’s been mischarged. He uses his debit card to pay for his fares. It works just fine at the turnstile, but take a look at his Chase account and you’ll see a $2.25 charge one day, a $4.50 charge the next.

“I think it’s 20 to 30 times that this has happened to me where I’ve been mischarged,” said Kahn,

Chase credits his account every time he complains, but he’d rather Chase and Cubic figure out the problem and fix it.

“I’m upset. I should be able to use the technology the way it’s meant to be used and it’s not working,” said Kahn.

Both CTA and Chase are looking into Kahn’s complaint and call his situation unique. However, the CTA does not keep track of complaints.

In the meantime the makers of the Ventra card are on track to receive monthly payments that could amount to about $700,000.

Dorothy Tucker has served as a reporter for CBS 2 Chicago since 1984. Currently she reports for the station’s 5:00 PM, 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM weekday newscasts. Tucker also serves as the station’s consumer reporter, covering issues and trends to help...